As a robot system of this type, a robot system that performs a collaboration control of the multiple robots in a production line has been known (for example, see JP 2006-107050 A). In the system, one of the multiple robots is set as a master robot, and the remaining robots are set as slave robots.
In recent years, in order to improve the efficiency of production manufacturing, it is conceivable that the robots and an operator perform work in collaboration with each other in the production line. In that case, the operator may work in a place close to the master robot and the slave robots. Thus, when, for example, an emergency stop switch is pressed by the operator, there is a need to ensure the stop of all the robots regardless of the master robot or the slave robots.
In this case, when a safety device such as the emergency stop switch is connected to the control device corresponding to the master robot, in order to ensure the stop of all the robots, it is conceivable to output an operation stop command for the slave robots from the control device corresponding to the master robot which determines the stop of an input of a safety signal from the safety device to the control devices corresponding to the slave robots. However, in that case, different control devices such as the dedicated control device for the master robot and the dedicated control devices for the slave robots are present in the production line. The presence of the different control devices causes an increase in a load of a production management for the control devices such that there is a need to prepare a production facility for manufacturing the respective different control devices, on a manufacturer of the control devices.